A Mysterious Stomach Growl
by HersheyChocolates101
Summary: Lillian's stomach is mysteriously growling. She finds out why this is so...the hard way. Entry for the Dares Forum: The Drawing Dare.


**A/N: Here's my entry for the Dares Forum! The dare is the Drawing Dare. Feel free to check it out. :3 Oh and read the other entries and place a vote, please! :D Enjoy.**

* * *

Lillian awoke to the delightful chirps of sparrows outside her window. It was

6:30 A.M. and the sun's rays already were emanating brightly, illuminating the chilly early spring morning. The blue sky showed no sign of any rain; it was as clear as polished glass.

Lillian sat up in bed, outstretching her arms as far as they could go. She yawned loudly and rubbed the leftover crust from the edges of her slightly groggy eyes. "What a beautiful morning!" she exclaimed, her voice echoing throughout the empty house, giving it a less lonely feeling, and awakening her cat, Susie. "Time for-"

_Prrrrgggglll__._

An atrocious noise that sounded worse than the cry of a dying cow made itself loud and clear from Lillian's stomach. It seemed louder than thunder, and penetrated the morning peace.

_That didn't feel too good,_ the rancher thought to herself. She adamantly pushed the notion of being ill aside, claiming she always ate healthy foods, and decided that it could just as easily be something as simple as hunger. She hadn't eaten very much the night before, anyway.

Lillian proceeded to push aside the covers and swing her legs over the side of the bed. The uncomfortable growling was fairly stubborn. It made strange noises that seemed loud enough to be heard from outside. _It's just my imagination..._

After swiftly dressing into her ranching dress and matching bandanna, Lillian buttered up a few slices of toasted whole wheat bread and poured herself a glass of fresh milk. _How delicious! _she thought to herself happily. The milk was pure white and absolutely creamy. The butter, which had begun to melt on the warm bread, glittered from the sun ray that had allowed itself in through the window in a single stream.

For a brief moment that she should have savored, the internal discomfort seemed to subside. That is, until the second she was about to take a bite out of her mouthwatering breakfast. _Prrrrgggglll_. No longer did the bread seem appetizing. Rather, it reminded her of something she had dug up from underground. The milk, in her tired, heavy eyes, appeared nearly as if it were about a century or two old and had turned to the color of mud. Lillian could already sense the room spinning a little in a dizzying motion. Sadly, she pushed aside her food and settled with a small glass of water instead. After that, she headed outside to begin working.

"I must go on...I must go on..."

And staying true to her struggled words, Lillian indeed persevered to get her daily chores done. Although it was with much less enthusiasm than usual, the rancher brushed, milked, and talked to her cows before pushing them outside to graze in the field. She sheared her sheep, collected her chickens' eggs, and even took her horse for a quick trot around the ranch. Now all that remained were crops.

"Ugh...Oh no..."

While it was a relatively a small patch since Lillian _did_ reside in an animal- focused village, crops still held many more tasks, most of which her body had no strength to handle.

"But I'll go on anyways."

Determination shining in her eyes like streetlights illuminating a sidewalk in the city at midnight, Lillian dipped her green plastic watering can into her refilling station and began to hydrate each one of the crops' parched throats. The soil beneath them darkened from the moisture, sending a feeling of triumph racing through the girl's veins. She managed to smile and even hum a little.

By noon the crops were all watered and Lillian was almost positive that she was

dying. Her arms felt like spaghetti; they could no longer hold the watering can; this tumbled from her loose grasp to the ground below her. Her dizziness had only increased in intensity throughout the morning and nausea attacked her stomach the way fire would burn up a tree without leaves on a breezy day during a dry summer.

_Don't worry. It's all over. All you have to do now is walk a few meters to _

_reach the house so you can-_

"Hey Lillian!"

_Dang it..._

She plastered a pathetic see-through smile on her face and waited not so patiently for her close friend to tell her his purpose of visiting her when she was in dire need of a nap.

_Hurry up, darn it!_

"I just came to say hi to you. And give you a present. Here's some hot milk!" Ash handed her a warm thermos with a hopeful grin on his visage. "Will you try-"

Lillian's thin fingers, which were no longer capable of bending or curling, involuntarily let go of the thermos, which clattered to the ground and hit the grass and soil with a soft _thump_. Unfortunately, the lid hadn't been screwed on tightly enough so milk had begun to spill everywhere. Not that it had to be cleaned.

Lillian hadn't really spoken yet. She looked up at her friend with eyes she miserably struggled to keep wide open.

"Sorry." was all she could whisper. Her stomach growled at such a volume that it was a wonder that Ash didn't give the slightest hint of hearing it. No twitch of a smirk, no playful sparkle in the eye, and no stifled snicker.

The birds' cheerful tunes became fuzzy in her ears and Ash almost looked like he had a clone.

"Hey, are you okay? Is something wrong?" Ash inquired. Worry was etched on every centimeter of his face and his green-gray eyes were full of concern.

"I-It's nothing," Lillian replied simply.

"Are you sure? You look a little pale. Let me feel your for-" Ash said, reaching for Lillian's forehead

"No, I'm fine," the timid girl resisted being felt by backing away a few inches. She smiled as genuinely as possible to show that nothing was wrong at all. However, Ash wasn't buying it. Much to the rancher's surprise, he grabbed her hand, which felt cold and clammy to the touch, and tightened his grip on it. Not threateningly, but rather in a reassuring way, at least he hoped. This was enough to make Lillian avert her shy gaze towards him. However, she quickly looked away. She was no longer smiling. Her cheeks were reddening, yet her face looked pale and sickly as he'd observed before.

"Lillian, I really don't think you're well. C'mon, let me take you home."

_Bluuh-!_

A gross and obnoxious sounding burp escaped from Lillian's lips. Before she had the chance to excuse herself, the sound repeated.

_**Bluuh - HLLLF!**_

Although the experience didn't necessarily make Lillian feel totally better, many stomach growls, dizziness episodes, and sleepiness all erupted from her mouth in a completely disgusting brownish-greenish pile of goo with the consistency of pancake batter. This wouldn't have been such a big deal if this...goo hadn't ended up on Ash's shirt, which had been a crisp and clear white about two minutes ago.

The goo is far more widely known as vomit, by the way.

For a moment, all that Ash and Lillian could do was stand there in an awkward silence that enveloped them both so securely Ash felt like he was being suffocated.

Then it was panic time.

"Lillian, are you okay?! No wait you're not! You threw up! Uhm, I-I'll take you to my house. Y-yeah!"

However Lillian was in no shape to crawl, much less walk. Her legs were slightly wobbly and her face showed signs that she could easily puke again at any time. Although his shirt had barf on it, Ash resorted to his final choice. He put one arm behind Lillian's back and one under her knees, then slowly lifted her up with a small grunt. For someone who exercised daily, Lillian was heavier than she looked. He began to hurry home as fast as he could possibly run.

When he kicked the door open, his mother Jessica was about to scold him...until she noticed a fast asleep Lillian in his arms, as well as the puke his fingers were close to touching. The girl had vomited one or two more times during the mini-journey, and now Ash's sleeves had brown-green stains on them.

After the brief moment of surprise, Jessica had turned into her mother-hen mode. "Ash quick. Put her in the guest room, and clean up. Meantime I'll go get some soup from Howard's cafe. Watch over her, okay?" There wasn't much time for Ash to answer as Jessica had harassed a few coins out of the cash register and flown out the door.

"Wait-" he called out but it was too late. He glanced down at the sleeping Lillian in his arms and smiled a little at her peaceful face. To Ash, she had looked scared stiff before, like a deer in front of headlights. "Well I might as well put you to sleep."

* * *

It was dark out when Lillian opened her eyes, and after a split second, squeezed them shut again. "Ugh," she whimpered. The sickness hadn't been a dream as she'd hoped. _Oh well. It's okay. At least I'm in my own- _

_Creak!_

She was opening her eyes again (this time more slowly) when she heard a

floorboard creak. _That's weird. If I'm at home then how come..._

Someone opened the door a little. "Hey Lillian," he or she whispered. A boy, definitely. "Are you awake? Mom bought soup from the cafe."

Lillian's eyes finally managed to flutter until she could see again, and she murmured a hopefully loud enough, "Come in."

However, Lillian's mind seemed to register something, and flashbacks hit her like a rock smashing a porcelain doll. "What am I doing here?!" she screeched in panic.

"Lillian calm down!" the person with the soup yelped in reply. "It's me! As in, Ash."

"Is it really you?"

"Yes, Lillian, it's me."

"Are you sure you're not lying?"

"Yeessss, Lillian."

"Ash? What happened?" Lillian inquired as Ash propped a pillow for her so she could eat upright. She began to hungrily slurp the soup he had handed to her. A few drops splashed on her face, but it was amazing all the same. Ash sat at the opposite end of the bed, being careful not to squish her feet.

"Well, starting from when I came to give you the milk this morning, you were clearly not fine. You threw up." He subconsciously left out the part about Lillian dropping the milk and the fact that she had puked on him. Somehow it seemed more polite. "Then I took you here. But by that time, you were out like a light. And here we are."

Lillian felt her mouth drop wide open. "Ash...that's the best thing anyone's ever done for me...thank you. Just, um, what about my animals?"

"They've been taken care of. Eat the soup, Lillian. It's clear you haven't had enough food as of lately," Ash instructed firmly.

"But my crops-" Lillian began to object.

"Fine. If you won't eat by yourself, then I'll make you eat." Ash, despite Lillian's protests, grabbed the spoon from her unsuspecting hand, scooped up some vegetables from the bowl, and brought it up to her mouth. Since his arms were like metal, (much to her surprise) Lillian gave in and let Ash feed her until the bowl had been cleared.

Ash hoped his face wasn't too red as he placed the soup bowl on the nightstand. He pressed a finger to the side of his face and much to his dismay it was really, really warm. Stealing a secretive glance at Lillian, Ash realized it didn't matter. Her face could easily rival the hue of a rose.

"I-I take it th-that you'd l-like to rest until m-morning, huh?" he stammered, piercing the awkward silence that had snuck up between them.

Lillian looked up from her nails. "What? Oh uh...yeah. Good idea."

Ash stood up and stretched a little. "Okay. I should get to bed, too then." He was about to leave when a small hand grabbed his wrist. "Huh?"

"Ash wait," Lillian commanded. She stood up, seemed to hesitate for a very extensive moment, and then circled her arms around him in a warm embrace.

The animal rancher involuntarily stiffened, and felt himself gradually relax as he returned the hug to Lillian. Never had his stomach felt so funny around someone.

Or happy.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it! Sorry for my pathetic excuse for onomatopoeia of throwing up; I researched it and kinda not really had to make up my own based on memory. xD I originally had a different ending planned but it was ridiculously cheesy and it was downright...ick. I guess writing about Ash makes me like him...a little. I hated him before. XD Please let me know of any game related errors; I did my research but may have missed something. And of course, grammar, writing overall, etc. **

**Sorry for my lack of publishing stuff altogether! I apologize for the lack of updates in my stories. I'm typing this on a mobile device because I can barely get on the compy.****. ;_; Good luck to the other contestants in this dare! :)**

**-Hershey **


End file.
